Santa Helena (Coronel Fabriciano)

Originally, the area where the Santa Helena neighborhood is located belonged to Joaquim Cézar Santos, who settled in the current municipality of Coronel Fabriciano to work for Belgo-Mineira at the end of the 1930s. In 1944, Joaquim began the construction of the Santa Helena Sawmill, which was inaugurated on June 28, 1948, a few months before the emancipation of the municipality. The company contributed to structural and economic development alongside the Belgo and Acesita industrial centers, which were responsible for the population growth. The Santa Helena Sawmill became one of the main charcoal producers in the region, supplying raw materials to local industries and small furniture factories and making wooden floors, which were soon replaced by slate and ceramics. At its peak, the company employed around 180 people and had one of the largest fleets of trucks in the city. The sawmill was active until the mid-1960s, when it went bankrupt due to the scarcity of wood, which supplied demand from neighboring steel complexes, and the emergence of large furniture factories that reclaimed space from smaller-scale producers, reducing demand for the raw material. == Geography and demography ==

in the Julita Pires Bretas Avenue. The Santa Helena neighborhood has a total area of 0.2 km2 and is bordered by the districts of Santa Terezinha, Bom Jesus (to the east), Professores (to the north) and Centro (to the west), and the municipality of Timóteo (to the south). It covers the spot where the Caladão Stream flows into the Piracicaba River and, although the neighborhood is bathed by the course, flooding is not common along this stretch. When the level of the Piracicaba is high, flooding doesn't occur either. The vegetation is decent, especially on Julita Pires Bretas Avenue, which borders the Caladão Stream. There is a sidewalk along the road, which is often used for leisure. The neighborhood has a considerable presence of vacant lots, which are often used improperly for dumping garbage and burning, causing a risk of disease transmission and contamination of the soil and the local hydrography. The neighborhood is highly valued by the real estate sector, as there is a predominance of residential housing next to downtown Fabriciano, one of the main commercial areas in the region. However, there is little availability of plots and properties for sale, as well as traffic problems and a lack of parking nearby. Santa Helena is home to the Cathedral of Saint Sebastian, which belongs to the Parish of Saint Sebastian and is the seat of the Diocese of Itabira-Fabriciano. == Infrastructure and leisure ==

According to data from the State Department of Education (SEE), the Santa Helena neighborhood had two educational institutions in August 2013: the Cruz Vermelha Preschool, which provided preschool education; and the Ethos Institute of Education (formerly Canarinho Encantado), a private institution created in 1984 and moved to its current location in 1999 that provides preschool and elementary school education. The Doutor José Maria Morais Hospital (formerly the Siderúrgica Hospital) is located in Argemiro José Ribeiro Street and was created in 1936 to contain an epidemic of tropical diseases that was spreading through the east of Minas Gerais. The water supply is provided by Companhia de Saneamento de Minas Gerais (Copasa), while the electricity supply is provided by Companhia Energética de Minas Gerais (Cemig), with 100% of the population having access to the electricity network. There are no public transport buses in the neighborhood, except on Julita Pires Bretas and Rubem Siqueira Maia avenues. Among the main buildings in the Santa Helena neighborhood are the Cathedral of Saint Sebastian, inaugurated in 1993 and with a capacity for more than 1,200 people, and the Casa de Campo Club (CCC), the oldest club in the city, founded in 1966 and equipped with tennis, shuttlecock and futsal courts, as well as swimming pools, soccer fields and an events center. The José Maximiano de Sousa Square, rebuilt on Rubem Siqueira Maia Avenue in 2012, and the CREAS Square, erected next to the headquarters of the Specialized Reference Center for Social Assistance (CREAS) in 2016, are some of the public leisure spaces that have sports equipment and toys. The neighbourhood also has leisure activities for the population organized by the Parish of Saint Sebastian and schools. Every year in January, the Cathedral celebrates the Feast of Saint Sebastian in honor of the patron saint after whom the church is named, as well as the town's anniversary. During Holy Week and the Corpus Christi holiday, there are processions through the streets of the town and neighboring districts, starting from the Cathedral. Every year the Arraiá do Bastião also occurs near the church, with square dance performances and the sale and consumption of typical food in stalls, bringing together the population of Santa Helena and nearby neighborhoods. On New Year's Eve, the Casa de Campo Club holds celebrations and parties. File:Ribeirão Caladão e praça do Parque Linear, Coronel Fabriciano MG.JPG|The Caladão Stream and the Parque Linear Square. File:Fachada da Catedral de São Sebastião, Coronel Fabriciano MG2.JPG|Front of the Cathedral of Saint Sebastian. File:Vista da Praça José Maximiano de Sousa, Coronel Fabriciano MG.JPG|View of the José Maximiano de Sousa Square. File:Pista de caminhada na margem do Ribeirão Caladão no B. Santa Helena, Coronel Fabriciano MG.JPG|Walking path on the Caladão Stream. == See also ==